Techniques for integrating sound recordings into still prints are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,853 discloses an instant-printing film having a magnetic sound-recording band on one end. The camera that exposes the film has a recording head that sweeps along the band at the time the picture is taken. The camera also includes a play-back head which can reproduce the recorded sound when the recording band is inserted into a slot located in the rear of the camera body. Sound recording systems have also been developed for still cameras using silver halide films which are developed outside of the camera. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,996 discloses a camera having a microphone which optically records a limited amount of sound data in a bar code pattern along the border of the print. The camera is provided with a detachably connectable bar code reader which is used to scan the code along the print border to play the voice or sound recording associated with the print. Another example of a still camera system capable of recording sound during the taking of a photograph is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,235. In this system, the camera body includes a removable, semiconductor memory component capable of recording sound and voice data at the time the photographs are taken. Additionally, the camera includes a means for generating an optical access code on the individual photographic frames for accessing the sound data on the semiconductor memory.
Unfortunately, each of the aforementioned prior art systems has one or more shortcomings that prevent it from achieving an ideal result. The magnetic recording of sound data on still pictures requires the pictures to be manipulated into contact with a magnetic play-back head. Such a requirement is particularly inconvenient where the still photographs are bound into a photo album or framed for display. Additionally, the use of a separate, non-optical medium that needs to be attached to the film complicates its manufacture. While the use of an optical bar code to record the sound information simplifies the structure of the film forming the print, the amount of information which can be recorded along the narrow border of the photo is quite limited. Moreover, the presence of a bar code along the border of the still image is distracting, and aesthetically unpleasing. While the use of a relatively small optical code in the resulting printed image to access data in a semiconductive memory ameliorates the problems of visual interference and limited audio file size, the physical detachment between the sound data and the photo makes it possible for the sound data to become irretrievably lost if the memory unit is lost or damaged.
Clearly, what is needed is a system and technique for incorporating voice or sound data into a still print with an optically readable medium which avoids the use of "stick-on" magnetic recording materials that require the prints to be inserted into a special play-back apparatus. The system should also avoid the use of visible optical codes along the borders of the image which are limited in capacity, as well as distracting and aesthetically unpleasing. Ideally, such a system should be capable of recording a relatively large amount of sound data directly into the print itself rather than into another, physically separate medium which could easily become lost or destroyed. The sound data should be in a form that is easily and remotely retrievable even when the prints are mounted in an album or frame. Finally, the system should be completely compatible with commercially available image printing devices to obviate the need for the development and manufacture of specialized printing machinery.